The Blues are without a win in five games ahead of the west London derby, and the former Internacional playmaker believes three points are imperative.

“It's great to play in local derbies,” the Brazilian told the club’s official website. “It's another important game, and we've had a lot of those in the last few weeks."

He added, “The draw against Manchester City at the weekend was a positive result, and now I'm hopeful we can follow that up with a win in order to stay near the top of the table. It's crucial that from this point on we win as many matches as possible.

“At Chelsea we are expected to win every game. We tried everything in order to get the three points against Manchester City, but it was a very tough game and while we were unfortunate not to get the win, it was important we didn't lose and managed to keep a clean sheet.”

Fulham has won just one of their last eight Premier League games – including back-to-back defeats in its last two, and Oscar believes the opposition’s attacking brand of football could play into the Blues’ hands.

“It's better for us that they like to attack because it will mean that there should be more spaces for us to exploit," he continued.

“It makes it far more difficult for us when teams just come to Stamford Bridge and have the whole side defending behind the ball, because we have nowhere to go."